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Nonimmigrant Visas

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FAQ

Immigrant Visas

American Citizen Services

visas for Intra-company transferees (L)

Employees of an international company who are being temporarily relocated to a parent branch, affiliate, or subsidiary of the same company in the United States require intra-company transfer (L-1) visas. The international company may be either a U.S. or foreign organization. The employment must be approved in advance by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the United States on the basis of a petition, form I-129L filed by the United States employer. Please have your company contact USCIS if you have questions about your petition. Consular officers of the U.S. Department of State at U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv have no role in, or access to, the petition process.

USCIS will send you or your attorney and your sponsor a Notice of Action (I-797) when it approves your petition. You may apply for an L-1 visa only after USCIS approves your petition. The Embassy will have no information about the status your petition until it has been approved.

Please remember that while the approval from USCIS grants an applicant legal status to work for your company in the United States, you will still need to apply for an L visa to enter the United States. You should apply for a visa and pay the processing fee for you and your family as you would for any other visa type. However, you must not apply until you have received an approved petition.

Applicants for L-1 visas are not required to prove that they do not intend to immigrate to the United States. However, you must prove that you and your company are qualified for the visa and that you will be performing the work that USCIS approved as a skilled job.

Qualifying for an L Visa

To qualify for an L-1 visa, the employee must be at the managerial or executive level, or have specialized knowledge and be destined to a position within the U.S. company at either of these levels, although not necessarily in the same position as held in Israel. In addition, you must have been employed outside the U.S. with that company continuously for one year within the three years before the application for admission into the United States.

Types of L Visas

An L-1A visa is required by an employee who is coming to the United States to serve in a managerial or executive position for their company.

An L-1B visa is required by an employee who has specialized knowledge needed by their company’s branch in the United States.

Large companies with many employees from abroad may choose to petition for blanket L-1A or L-1B status from USCIS instead of filing individual petitions for each employee. The blanket petition provision is meant to serve only relatively large, established companies having multi-layered structures and numerous related business entities. The blanket petition provision is available only to managers, executives and specialized knowledge professional that are destined to work in an established office. Any questions which you may have concerning this process should be addressed to the appropriate USCIS office in the United States.

Applicants for blanket L visas must pay an additional $500 antifraud fee, which should be paid at the time of the visa interview. See Visa Fees for more information.

For each of these visa types, the employee applying for the L-1 visa must meet the requirement of serving at least one year out of the last three for the company abroad.

Families of L Visa Holders

Spouses and/or children under the age of 21 who wish to accompany or join the principal visa holder in the United States for the duration of his/her stay require derivative L-2 visas. The application procedure is the same, and we recommend that your entire family apply together. Spouses and/or children who do not intend to reside in the United States with the principal visa holder, but visit for vacations only, may be eligible to apply for visitor (B-2) visas.

Spouses and children of L visa holders may study in private or public schools the United States on the L-2 visa without obtaining a student F-1 visa. Spouses may seek work in the United States after receiving employment authorization on derivative L-2 visas. For further information, please contact USCIS on your arrival in the United States.

However, as principal L-1 applicant, you must prove that you can support your family financially during your stay in the U.S.

Before the Interview

You may apply for an L visa only after USCIS approves your petition. Before you appear at the Embassy for the interview for an L visa, be sure that you have completed the following steps and have collected the following documents to bring to the interview:

You have scheduled your visa interview on the Internet at http://visainfo.us-visaservices.com/.
You have filled out and printed the required forms to bring to your interview:

DS-156 application form for all applicants (to be filled out at http://visainfo.us-visaservices.com/ when you schedule your interview)
DS-157 supplemental form for all male applicants age 16 to 45, as well as all applicants, male or female, born in Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan or Syria.

You have paid the processing fee at the post office have the receipt to bring to your interview.
Your passport is valid and has at least one blank “Visa” page.
You have two photos that meet the photo requirements.
If you are applying for an individual L-1 visa, you have the original I-797 form from USCIS showing that the petition has been approved and a copy or original of the complete petition submitted to USCIS and the documents submitted in support of the petition, such as a letter of support from your sponsor.
If you are applying for a blanket L-1 visa, you have a copy of the blanket L-1 approval notice and three copies of form I-129S, as well as proof of your qualifications for L-1 status, such as a letter of support from your company.
If you are applying for L-2 derivative visas for your spouse and/or children, you have all of the documents, fees, and photos listed above, as well as marriage and birth certificates proving your relationship and proof of your ability to financial support your family while in the United States.
If you have lived in the United States, you have previous I-797, I-20, or DS-2019 forms or proof of previous study or work visa status.
You have previous passports with U.S. visas or a list of entries and exits from the Ministry of Interior to bring to your interview.
If you have a scientific or technical background, you have the required letters and CV to bring to your interview.

At the Interview

At the visa interview, the consular officer will ask you to present all your documents and passport and will ask about the work you intend to perform in the United States and your qualifications for this work, as well as your history with the company you are working for. Please be prepared to answer these questions honestly and thoroughly, and the consular officer in turn will make the decision about your eligibility based on your answers and the documents you present.

Sometimes it may be necessary for the consular officer to take a few days to review the details of your application and supporting documents. If this is the case, the officer will return your passport to you and the Embassy will call you as soon as possible for further questions or to issue your visa.